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TICK AND FLEA CONTROL

Fleas and ticks are greedy little pest, they want your blood or more often the blood of your hound. As small as these parasites are, they can and will bring your dog down. They attach to warm blooded animals and feast on there blood. Along with their enormous appetite they bring many harmful diseases to man and his dog.
Fleas can spread everything from the pelage to skin disorders. They serve as a key player in the life cycle of the tape worm. Although fleas can be a problem for your hound all year, flea populations typically explode a few weeks after the weather starts to warm up.
Ticks are also out for blood. In their pursuit of blood they carry many diseases. Lime disease is one of these dreaded conditions passed by some ticks.
Left unchecked, these blood suckers will cause your hound a life of misery. Hounds that become heavily invested with ticks and fleas will never be productive hunters. Without an effective plan designed to rid your animals of these pest, many will die an early death.
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Fleas Ticks

I know very little about how fleas and ticks live and reproduce, but I have read that the female flea lays about 2000 eggs in her lifetime. In one day a single female flea can lay up to 50 eggs.
An adult female tick will increase to 100 times her original weight while feeding on your hound.
These pests may never be brought under control. We must work hard to keeping our hounds free of fleas and ticks. Just like our battle against internal pest, we must attack this problem head on and with a proactive approach. You don’t ever want to wait for your dog to be loaded down with ticks and fleas before deciding to take action. The time to take action is now.
There are a number of excellent products that will do the job. Some may be better than others, but all are a little expensive if you are treating a kennel full of hounds. These once a month topical spot-on treatments are fast acting, long-lasting. They control fleas for up to three month and ticks for up to one month.

FLEA & TICK PRODUCTS FRONTLINE: Is an excellent product that is administered once each month. When given as directed it cost around $8 per dog per month.
K9 ADVANTIX: Is an even better product that takes care of ticks, fleas and mosquitoes. When given as directed it cost around $10 per dog, per month.
I know that some users do save a little by buying the larger size and using it for several hounds. If you can buy a 3 pk of Frontline for a #30 pound hound for $25, that is just over $8 per month, per dog. If you buy the larger size, meant for 89 to 132 lb hounds, (3 pk for $27), you may use each pack on three different 30 pound dogs. Using the larger size you end up with 9 treatments which is only $3 per dog per month.
These are only two of the many excellent products that are available on the market that can and will keep your hounds free of ticks and fleas. These products are specifically designed to be used for dogs. For more than 15 years, I have been using a similar product, but the product I use is intended to be used on livestock. This product is “Spotton” and has been marketed for years as a cattle insecticide by Bayer Inc. While it has never been approved for use on hounds it is the most economical treatment that I have found. I have never used Frontline, K9Advantix or any of the other approved products, so I do not really know how well they work or don’t work. I do know that for a fraction of the cost, using Spotton I have been able to keep my hounds free of ticks and fleas.

The active ingredient in Spotton is (fenthion). Like the products designed and approved for dogs, this product is used once each month to keep fleas and ticks off your hound. I apply 1cc of Spotton for each 10 pounds of dog weight. I use a syringe to measure and apply the Spotton to the dog’s back. I do this on the first day of each month, at the same time I am giving my dogs their heartworm preventative.
I have never seen any fleas on my hounds. I have seen live ticks crawling on, them after a hunt in the tick invested swamps along the Pascagoula River. Most of my hounds are Lemon/White and Red/White. It is easy to see the ticks that have hitched a ride. I pick these crawlers off the hounds and at the same time I normally have to pick several ticks off of me. Any ticks that I find attached to my hounds are already dead and can be scratched right off.

…Warning….Warning…
Like any product, not intended for dogs, spotton may cause problems for some breds of dogs and or dogs that have known or unknown medical conditions.
Use at your own risk.

I have been told by a vet that dogs with liver problems should not use this type product. The liver is one of those multipurpose organs that work hard to protect the body from toxins. Spotton may be a hazard for a damaged or diseased liver.
It only takes a little to protect your hound from being invaded by fleas and ticks. This product should be used to rid a hound of a light invasion and or to prevent ticks and fleas from ever moving in on your dog. If you end up with a dog that is heavily invested, other actions should be taken to rid them of the pest (dips, sprays and detachment) and then turn to Spotton to keep them pest free. Never think that you can use a super dose of Spotton to clean up a hound that is loaded with ticks and fleas. A large dose could very well kill a hound that has already been pulled down by the mob of ticks and fleas.
My brother-in-law had three fine hounds. He was keeping them in a dirt pen in the hot summer time. They all ended up with a large number of ticks. He was not familiar with Spotton but had heard it would take care of ticks. He did not know the recommended dose and decided that it was going to take a large dose to get the ticks off his hounds. I am not sure how much he used but it must have been at least a ¼ cup (60 ml). This was at least 20 times the recommended dose. Two of his three hounds died within an hour.

Spotton is a product that is absorbed by the dog and processed by his body. The small amount given every month can be tolerated by your hound. When given every month a resistance builds up that repels ticks and fleas.

What is the cost?
If you can find any Spotton it will cost anywhere from $35 to $50 for a 473 ml (1 Pint) container. Just to make the math easy for me, say you could buy a pint of Spotton for $47.30. This would mean that each cc/ml cost only 10 cents. This means that treatment for a 30 pound hound is 30 cents each month.
Where can you get spotton?
I am sad to announce that Bayer has stopped production of this product. Any that you may find on some dusty co-op or feed store shelf will be outdated. What I am now using expired in September of 2004. It may be the last of this fine product.

Nearly two years ago my supply of Spotton was running low and I was in search for more. I checked the local co-op where I had purchased it about once every two years. A pint container would last me and my 10 or 12 hounds about two years. I checked with the co-op and several other farm supply and feed stores in the area. I was told this product was no longer in production.

With no Spotton available locally, I started searching the web and asking everyone on several hunting web sites if they knew where I may find Spotton. Someone on the RHO site directed me to a livestock supply company in Wisconsin.

American Livestock Supply Inc.
613 Atlas Ave., Madison. Wisconsin 53714
http://www.americanlivestock.com/index.jsp

There are some real nice folks up there in Wisconsin. They shipped me three pints of Spotton for just $33 each. They were already expired when they arrived but I was happy just the same. I have two of those containers left. They will last another three or four years and then I will have to find more or search for a suitable replacement.
I did recently run across four expired bottles at the local co-op. They may be the last of the Spotton left on earth. They were priced at $49.50 each. I know I will regret passing them up but I find it hard to turn loose of the cash when I am not out or about to be out of this precious Spotton.
I will spend the next few years looking for a replacement item. Maybe I can find a replacement that uses fenthion as the active ingredient.
If you can find Spotton at your local co-op, pick up a pint and use it to keep your hounds tick and flea free. If none can be found then do what ever you must to protect your hunting buddies.

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